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‘UNIT 1: ProsE., , 1, , Sreelakshmi Suresh, , Sreelakshmi Suresh was born in 1998 in Kozhikade, Kerala. She started, using computers at the age of three, and designed a fully functioning, website for her school at the age of eight. Her skill gained her worldwide, recognition and a number of domestic and international awards while, she was still very young. In 2009, she launched her own start-up called, eDesign, thereby becoming one of the youngest CEO’s in the country at, the age of eleven., , Sreelakshmi’s parents, Suresh Menon and Viju Suresh, lived in Kerala, and worked as a lawyer and schoolteacher respectively. They owned a, computer and saw the advantage of teaching their young daughter how, to use it. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, computers and the internet, were not yet essential components of a household, though Bill Gates was, revered by many in the IT industry and his story and success was one, young admirers dreamed of emulating. At the time, Notepad and MS Paint, were basic applications available for design. Sreelakshmi used Notepad, to type letters and learn the English alphabet; she used MS Paint to draw, and colour pictures., , These early experiences helped Sreelakshmi become familiar with, computer programmes. She grew curious to see what more could be done, with a computer, and her parents actively encouraged this interest. Suresh, would often tell her to try out something new and different. He began, showing her websites designed by young children that were roughly her age, or older. One thing he noticed was that most of the young web designers, were boys. He believed his daughter was just as capable as these boys, and, sure enough, when Sreelakshmi tried her hand at web design, she proved, to be a quick learner. Using MS Word and other design applications, she, developed her own unique website designs., , For the next few years, Sreelakshmi spent every free moment after school, teaching herself how to design websites. After finishing her homework, she, would spend work on the computer for as long as her parents allowed., , , , Scanned with CamScanner

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4, , 4 SEMESTER I UNIT 1: PROSE, , While her parents did worry about the consequences of spending so much, , time on the computer, especially the strain on her eyes, they also knew she |, was not just playing around. Their daughter was working hard, and they |, were confident she would benefit from the experience., , Sure enough, Sreelakshmi proved them right when, at the age of eight,, she designed a complete, sophisticated and fully operational website for, her school. She had taken it upon herself to design an official website, for the school after realising it did not have one. The result was far better, than the school could have ever imagined. The website she created had, information about admissions and curriculum, the history of the school,, its faculty members, students, headmistress and staff, as well as a section, allowing parents to ask for and view their children’s school reports., , The school website ushered Sreelakshmi onto the international stage., Over the next few years, she was the recipient of nearly thirty awards., These include the Golden Web Award, the Art Space’s World Web Award, of Excellence 2006-07 and the Global Internet Directories Gold Award,, to name a few., , Two honours deserve special mention. The first of these was Sreelakshmi’s, , enrolment in the American Webmasters Association. The American, Webmasters Association is a professional group that was founded in 2003., Its mission is to connect and support those individuals responsible for, creating innovative websites through design, management or marketing. The, Association is an organisation committed to the development of individuals, within the web profession and industry. At the time of her enrolment in, the American Webmasters Association in 2007, Sreelakshmi Suresh was, the youngest and only member below eighteen. The CEO at the time even, took it upon herself to write to Sreelakshmi, commending her on her work, for the school’s website., , ‘The second award that stands out from the rest was conferred upon, Sreelakshmi on 5 February 2009—which also happened to be her eleventh, birthday. This was the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement,, given by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare in New Delhi. Receiving, a national award at the age of eleven is not something many can boast, of, but Sreelakshmi certainly deserved such an honour. By this point she, had also launched her own start-up, eDesign, which was a web-designing, company. |, , Sreelakshmi was very proud of her efforts, and had big plans for Design., She was well aware of the expectations people had. Starting a web-desiga, company would only increase the pressure on her to live up to and exceed, , , , Scanned with CamScanner

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SREELAKSHMI SURESH 5, , these expectations, but she was ready for the task. Instead of trying to secure, top foreign clients, Sreelakshmi chose to start small and work her way up., She knew she had a lot to learn as well., , Technology is constantly changing; what is trending today can become, obsolete by the end of the week. So in order to maintain her standards,, the quality of her work and the growth of her venture, Sreelakshmi kept, studying new and developing technologies. She kept searching for more to, learn. Her dream was to make her company one of the top IT companies, in the world, and ‘to be the master in my field. I have to work hard and, study more and more to achieve this’. She wanted to become a software, engineer and work on developing new user-friendly operating systems. All, , of that was going to require a lot of hard work., In 2012, Sreelakshmi gave a TEDx Talk about her journey to becoming, , one of the world’s youngest CEOs. She talked about her dream of becoming, a world-class web designer, and about the struggles of launching a start-up, as a minor. Today Sreelakshmi is finishing college. She has big dreams for, her future., , When we talk about how ‘age is just a number’, we often refer to, how growing older does not mean you should give up on your dreams., Sreelakshmi Suresh has turned this expression on its head and reminded, the world that being young does not mean you cannot dream big as, well—‘Don’t think that something is impossible for children. We can, achieve whatever elders can do, if we have the will.’ She firmly believes, that ‘if you are confident that you are competent and prepared to work, , hard, nothing is impossible.’, , Scanned with CamScanner